‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ scores best opening ever for R-rated movie

Deadpool turned out to be the box-office savior Marvel needed.
“Deadpool & Wolverine” earned $211 million at the domestic box office this weekend, according to Disney, by far the largest opening ever for a R-rated movie. The record was previously held by the original “Deadpool,” which debuted to $132.4 million in 2016.
The big haul also represented the sixth-largest domestic opening weekend ever, putting the debut just ahead of “Jurassic World” and behind “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” according to Box Office Mojo.
Disney noted that “Deadpool & Wolverine” had the biggest opening weekend for any film since “Spider-Man: No Way Home” in 2021, as well as the biggest opening for a movie released in July. Additionally, Fandango said the film broke its record for most opening weekend ticket sales for an R-rated movie, surpassing 2015’s “Fifty Shades of Grey.”
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It was a much-needed win for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, coming off a major box-office disappointment with “The Marvels.” Released last November, the “Captain Marvel” sequel made just $206.1 million worldwide, a huge decline from the original film’s $1.1 billion. After “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” previously disappointed at the box office, analysts questioned whether superhero franchise fatigue was hurting Marvel.
But that didn’t hold back “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which introduced both title heroes to the MCU for the first time. Disney acquired the rights to the characters after buying 21st Century Fox, which released the first two “Deadpool” movies. “Deadpool & Wolverine” was also the first MCU movie to receive a R rating.
It’s the latest success in a strong year for Disney, which recently set a new record for highest-grossing animated film of all time with “Inside Out 2.” Both movies injected life into a summer box office that got off to a slow start when “The Fall Guy” performed below expectations in May.
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The weekend was a big one for Marvel all around. The studio also shocked fans on Saturday with the announcement that “Iron Man” star Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the franchise as a new character, the villainous Doctor Doom, in 2026’s “Avengers: Doomsday.”
For now, though, Marvel does not have another film scheduled for 2024, making this a rare year with only one movie from the studio. The MCU won’t return to theaters until “Captain America: Brave New World,” scheduled for Feb. 14.
On his Instagram story Sunday, star Ryan Reynolds shared news of the film’s enormous box office haul and wrote that it was “kind of hard to process.”
“But thank you to everyone who went to see the film this weekend … wow,” he wrote.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor reflected on the success and argued the film is such a hit because it has an unusually wide appeal despite being rated R.
“Disney probably doesn’t want me to frame it this way, but I’ve always thought of ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ as the first four-quadrant, R-rated film,” Reynolds said. “Yes, it’s rated R, but we set out to make a movie with enough laughs, action and heart to appeal to everyone, whether you’re a comic book movie fan or not.”
Director Shawn Levy, meanwhile, said on Instagram that audiences had embraced “Deadpool & Wolverine” “beyond our wildest hopes.”
“Whether you’re a fan old or new, you showed up for this story of friendship in all its audacious, heart-on-its-sleeve, blood-soaked glory⚔️,” he wrote. “You’ve also made pretty much every dream in these two Canadian and one Australian hearts come true. We’ve all waited a long time for this team-up. Worth the wait.”